Improving outpatient care for heart failure through digital innovation: a feasibility study

Pilot and Feasibility Studies

Research

Gudbjorg Jona Gudlaugsdottir¹  Hulda Halldorsdottir¹  Audur Ketilsdóttir¹  Thordis Jona Hrafnkelsdottir²  David O. Arnar²  Elias Freyr Gudmundsson³  Tryggvi Thorgeirsson³  Maria L. Amundadottir³  Saemundur J. Oddsson³  Thrudur Gunnarsdottir³  Hallur Hallsson³ 

[1] Cardiovascular Centre, Landspitali – The National University Hospital of Iceland, Hringbraut, 101, Reykjavik, Iceland;Cardiovascular Centre, Landspitali – The National University Hospital of Iceland, Hringbraut, 101, Reykjavik, Iceland;Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland;Sidekick Health Digital Therapeutics, Kopavogur, Iceland;

关键词: Clinical outcome;    Digital solution;    Feasibility study;    Heart failure;    Lifestyle-change;    Remote monitoring;    Self-care;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s40814-022-01206-w

 received in 2022-07-13, accepted in 2022-11-16,  发布年份 2022

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundHeart failure (HF) affects over 26 million people worldwide. Multidisciplinary management strategies that include symptom monitoring and patient self-care support reduce HF hospitalization and mortality rates. Ideally, HF follow-up and self-care support includes lifestyle-change recommendations and remote monitoring of weight and HF symptoms. Providing these via a digital solution may be ideal for improving HF disease outcomes and reducing the burden on providers and healthcare systems. This study’s main objective was to assess the feasibility of a digital solution including remote monitoring, lifestyle-change, and self-care support for HF outpatients in Iceland.MethodsTwenty HF patients (mean age 57.5 years, 80% males) participated in an 8-week study. They were provided with a digital solution (SK-141), including lifestyle-change and disease self-care support, a remote symptom monitoring system, and a secure messaging platform between healthcare providers and patients. This feasibility study aimed to assess patient acceptability of this new intervention, retention rate, and to evaluate trends in clinical outcomes. To assess the acceptability of SK-141, participants completed a questionnaire about their experience after the 8-week study. Participants performed daily assigned activities (missions), including self-reporting symptoms. Clinical outcomes were assessed with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire at the study's beginning and end with an online survey.ResultsOf the 24 patients invited, 20 were elected to participate. The retention rate of participants throughout the 8-week period was high (80%). At the end of the 8 weeks, thirteen participants completed a questionnaire about their experience and acceptability of the SK-141. They rated their experience positively including on questions whether they would recommend the solution to others (6.8 on a scale of 1–7), whether the solution had improved their life and well-being (5.7 on a scale of 1–7), and whether it was user friendly (5.5 on a scale of 1–7). Many of the clinical parameters studied exhibited a promising trend towards improvement over the 8-week period.ConclusionThe digital solution, SK-141, was very acceptable to patients and also showed promising clinical results in this small feasibility study. These results encourage us to conduct a longer, more extensive, adequately powered, randomized-controlled study to assess whether this digital solution can improve the quality of life and clinical outcomes among HF patients.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2022

【 图 表 】

12888_2022_4365_Article_IEq8.gif

12888_2022_4365_Article_IEq7.gif

12888_2022_4365_Article_IEq5.gif

12982_2022_119_Article_IEq92.gif

12982_2022_119_Article_IEq230.gif

Fig. 10